Karin
by AnadKay
Summary: Karin has her problems. Qlueless, klutsy and not all there. Unfortunetly for her, that includes being too nice, and when she found someone in trouble, what better way to help but throw yourself at them? Some OC's. Based after Sentinels Ultimate X-Men
1. Chapter 1

"Karin?"

My new headphones started to hurt in my ears as I listened to the same song for the third time.

"Karin? Hay, Karin!"

Strange how could I have missed that line. You'd think that after listening to the same song over and over you'd know it by heart. Shows what I know.

"Karin? Hello? Karin!"

It almost sounded like someone was calling my name. _Couldn't be, I've never been to this side of town before._ I just had to take care of a little ticket I got last month. I swear that sign came out of nowhere. I wouldn't have parked there if I knew it was permit only. And I had the perfect song for the occasion. A little CCR; Creedence Clearwater Revival, Down on the Corner. Oh yeah, it worked just fine for me. But did it work too well? Perhaps. I lost my car again. In fact, I'm totally lost in general. I could have sworn that I parked only a block away from the court house. So now why did I walk four blocks in the wrong direction and make a left? _Maybe I'll just ask for directions in this building._

"Karin Yuri Kelley!"

That got my attention. I pulled one of the buds out of my ear and turned towards the person yelling at me. My face felt as though it was going to melt off my skull, my cheeks were so hot. Sara, my bestest buddy in the whole wide world was glaring at me from the other side of the street, her hands on her hips in that Karin-did-a-no-no stance.

"Hey," I called out to her, waving a hand in her general direction.

"Don't hey me, you have any idea where you were about to walk into?"

"Huh?" Looking behind me, my brain shut down and forgot to tell my body to breath. I caught my other hand on the door to a Dr. John's, the revealing lingerie in the window glaring at me on its blank stare mannequin. I could have sworn my face really did melt off my skull. Either that or was on fire as I quickly ripped my childish, immature hand away from the door and slowly backed away from it as though someone was going to jump out and drag me in. Knowing some of my friends, I wouldn't doubt it. Turning back to my buddy, I couldn't help but laugh at my own clueless stupidity. I'm betting the only directions they would give me are "north and south". Or with my looks, "out"; as in out of there.

Stepping up to the curb, I looked up and down the street before stepping off it. Safety first. Too bad the man coming the other way didn't get that lesson. _Wait…_

I looked back down the street and sure enough, there was a truck coming this way. Why people feel the need to chat on their phones and drive at the same time, I'll never know. The man didn't seem to notice the truck as he chatted away on his own phone. _Shit!_ In times like these I really curse being too nice. But then again, as I ran and dove into the man, I wasn't so sure if it wasn't a curse. Apparently as I hit the man we were both hit by the truck and knocked clear to the other side of the street. Somehow I wound up on my side, the top of my head nestled into the bend of the curb. I must have hit it because the colors wouldn't stop meshing together.

With a groan, I tried to tell the trucker off. Or tried to imamate some primal mating call, I don't know. All I knew was I couldn't see a damn thing, but everything else seemed to be set to full blast, particularly sound. Why couldn't everything be set to mute with full visual? That would be too convenient, I guess. Sara's voice traveled through this darkness, clean and clear and straight into my brain as what I could only assume the man and her started and argument.

I tried to sit up but instead I was pushed back down and rolled onto my back. "It's ok, Karin. I'm here. You're going to be just fine."

Oh sure, easy for her to say. Her head didn't feel like the Hulk was trying to tear his way out of it.

"Sweetie, you hit the truck really hard and you might have a concussion. You really need to open your eyes. Come on, open your eyes."

_Open my eyes? When did I close them?_ Trying to comply I found the dark so very thick. My eyes just didn't want to listen to me as the warm blanket of darkness pressed tighter around me. _So comfortable._

"Karin? Karin!"

I couldn't hear her anymore; her voice grew so distant, drowned by another, soothing sound. A lullaby of a sound as the darkness gathered me in and swallowed me up. The last thought that flickered through my mind was I just wanted to pay my parking ticket.


	2. Chapter 2

_Such a sweet smell filled the room. Like chocolate and mint. I think I lost it. I opened my eyes and found a bright light shining so far above me. Sadly, after blinking a few times, the light bulbs came closer to my eyes leaving dark imprints on my retinas. Those dark imprints always irritate me, let me tell you. You try to follow them with your eyes but every time you try to look at them or blink, they fall just to the side of your vision._

_Big, bold and stupid popped up in my face and shone another bright light in my eyes. I moved to knock his light away and found my wrist strapped to the table. No matter how much I tried, I could not wiggle my wrist free. Suddenly all my senses flooded back to me in a rush of irrational fear. I could hear my friend's voice screeching from some distance off and the sweet smell turned from food to sterile. No. I couldn't be in a hospital, there was no way. Why would I need to be in a hospital?_

"_Let me go," I whimpered, my head thrashing to the side as the man in the white coat tried to hold it still. "Let me go!"_

_A loud beeping was heard off to the side, quickly picking up the pace as I avoided his hands as best I could. "Let me go! Let me go! Let me go!" I screamed the words over and over, the hot tears rolling down my face as a sharp needle came in close. A sharp pinch and then darkness swallowed me up again as I was sent adrift in my dream world._

Just as suddenly as it came, the darkness reseeded and I found myself in a nice and comfy bed, the blankets tossed aside and my arms up in the air. Cold beads of sweat covered my forehead as I slowly lowered them to the bed. The ceiling was familiar, as was the bed, but everything else was cleared out. Sara must have been redecorating again. The windows were wide open, exposing the room to the bright full moon and winking stars.

I strained to listen for any sounds coming from the large house. Such silence, though a welcoming change to the previous day, threw me off. Her house was never this quiet; at least not when she was home. And she never left me home alone. She claimed I had this nasty habit of making a mess of her paints and fabrics. It's art, not mess.

Pushing myself up, I found my cloths had been changed. The bright and happy green frog stared up at me from my tank, the pink bunnies on my pj pants jumping to silent music. Yep, Sara ransacked my apartment for me. I hated these pajamas, though she was the one who bought them for me. What a shame they lost their matching partners last time I did laundry. I think the crazy ladies dog ran off with them.

I got out of bed and quickly made my way to the carpet in the hall. The hard wood flooring in the guest room squeaked terribly, not to mention was cold as ice with bare feet. The soft, plush carpet looked and felt as though it had just recently been cleaned; the fibers still cool in the air. I crept down the hall so as not to wake Sara up if she were sleeping. I knew this house as though it were my own. This was, at one point in time, my house as well. I moved to the other side of town when her boyfriend moved in, but that didn't last long. Unfortunately I would have moved back in if they had the timing enough to wait until after my lease was up. Oh well.

The kitchen was dark and empty. It didn't feel right. She always left the light on over the stove. I flicked the switch and… nothing. The bulb was dead. With a soft sigh, I felt my way to the fridge. Surely the tiny light in the box of goodness would brighten the night. The light didn't turn on. Now I know that wasn't right. How could my favorite appliance fail me? If the keeper of the food fails me then something bad must have happened.

A loud creak came from up stairs; drown out shortly by the sound of heavy feet near the entryway. Goosebumps shot up and down my spine, adrenalin pumping through my veins. I don't like closed spaces, and in the dark, the kitchen was vary closed off.

"Sara," I whispered, trying to call out for her and not let whoever was at the doorway hear me. How well that works, I don't know, but I was scared. "Sara? Is that you?"

I felt like I was in a bad horror movie and that at any moment someone was going to jump out of the shadows and stab me. One hand clung to the fridge door; the other roamed the counter tops. My fingers brushed against the block that held all the knives and I quickly felt for a blade handle. Pulling it from the holder, I held it firm in my grip.

Whoever it was that stood in that darkness took another step towards me, their boots scraping on the short carpet and ending in a thunk.

"Sara? This isn't funny anymore. Sara?" My voice was a louder this time, demanding that the shadow before me be her. Then a hand came out with a bright light shining right in my eyes. Damn it all!

"Karin, right?"

Unless Sara wasn't telling me something, I highly doubt this man could be her. He lowered the light out of my face after I shielded my eyes from the light. From what I could tell of him, he wasn't much taller than me. This guy must really like shadows.

"Found her," he called into the house. I had no idea what he meant by that simple statement, but I didn't think it was any good. Just then another light hit my face, blinding me again.

"Does everyone like sitting in the dark here, or are y'all just playing a cruel joke on me; because it's not funny!" So I snapped. I'm sorry. Have I mentioned I really do not like enclosed spaces?

The light lowered and disappeared and I was being held tightly. The scent of Sara's shampoo filled my nose as I dropped the knife I had a death grip on. My arms wrapped around her so tight she needed to actually pry them off. I could just make out her smile in the darkness. I let out a nervous laugh seeing her, though my eyes continued to roam towards the man still standing near the doorway. I glared at him and thought how stupid I must look glaring at someone I couldn't see. Then it hit me.

"Why are the lights out?"

"I forgot to pay the bill, duh."

"Why the hell did you do that?"

I got a smack upside the head. "Because, dummy, I was going to drop off the payment and you had to pay lil' miss hero. I spent the better part of three days taking care of your stupid ass." You have to love Sara; she's as normal as my friends get. I couldn't help my sheepish smile. "And incase that bump to the head dented your memory, this jerk you left me here with is Logan."

My mouth went off without me, "You're the dummy on the phone? Didn't your mama ever tell you to watch where you're going?"

He growled at me. Could you believe it? The man actually growled at me like some sort of animal. I stuck my tongue out at him. I never said I was mature. He just kind of rolled his eyes and turned back into the living room. Ok, so I didn't actually see him roll his eyes, but that's what you'd expect, right? Whatever.

Sara pulled me around and back into the living room. She pushed me on the sofa and lit a few pillar candles she kept on the coffee table for show. The three uneven candles lit the room well enough that she could see where the other candles on the mantle were and lit them too. Yep, she had been redecorating. The walls were a smooth creamy color when I left. Now they were sponged Indian red and eggshell. The sofa was reupholstered to match the wall and rich burgundy carpet that felt much softer than the stuff she had in the kitchen. I'm sure in the light the room was pleasantly warm and seasonal, but in the dark with nothing but candles for light, it was difficult to breath. And as one would have it, Sara didn't take my pushing her off as a hint. She curled up right next to me, her arms holding me tightly.

I wiggled away and leaned my elbows on my knees, my face in my hands. I couldn't take enclosed spaces. She should have known that by now, but then again, we've been out of touch for almost a year. And it was almost a year sense my last car related 'accident'. I was in the back seat, two other friends were driving. No one was drunk, we all had our seat belts, and we weren't speeding. The stupid people that hit us were. Add one tiny convertible and a large hummer in a head to head collision and just take a guess as to who won? To give you a hint, I'll never be able to tell the two up front how much I missed them.

The man started pacing, a cigar clenched in his teeth. To my relief, it was unlighted. He looked as though he were waiting for an explication of sorts, but if he wasn't going to ask for one, I wasn't going to give him one.

Ok, so I broke first. "Who are you?" What a way to break the ice.

He glared at me, but stopped his pacing. I guess where one for one, but who's keeping score? "Easy kid, I didn't push you into the street." And I did? Wait… "My name is Logan, but you could call me Wolverine."

Now why did that sound familiar? "You mean like the rodent? But you don't look like an oversized beaver." That was a good time to keep my mouth shut, but too late now I guess. The look he gave me was priceless. Too bad it wasn't a very happy one. The voices in my head told me to cower before him, kiss his boots and hope he forgives me. Then again, Sara's snickering next to me. Oh good, now if I die, at least I'm not going out alone.

He cleared his throat and crossed his arms over his chest. Heep big chief ready for talk. Oops, sorry. Sara leaned her head on my shoulder as we both watched the large rodent. "What I want to know is why did you tackle me in the street?"

"Because trucks don't like pedestrians?"

"Why would you help a mutant?"

"What's the difference?" He stared at me, his nose doing a kind of twitch as his eyes sought to burn a hole in my skull. Wait, was he sniffing? Could that be why he's named after a rodent? I could feel Sara's eyes on me as well, trying to figure me out. Why did I suddenly feel like the normal one? I pushed her away again and she swatted at my arms. Now I really felt normal. "Is someone going to take a picture, or am I supposed to do something?"

Then the Logan guy huffed at me, or made some sort of noise in his nose. The voices just wouldn't leave me alone with this one, so I didn't leave him alone. "Do you have some problem with me? Because if so, you have to tell me; I am not physic, I cannot read your mind."

"You'd be the first if you could." Oh, witty come back. This guy was really starting to bug me. "You should have left me there-"

"No. I should not have left you there that would have hurt. Trust me, I know." _I was hit too, ass wipe._ We were not happy any more. "It would have hurt me more to think that I could have helped and didn't." Now he just stared at me, rolling the cigar around in his teeth. Why did I feel like sported a shiny new head?


	3. Chapter 3

Sara's hand on my shoulders shook me from my thoughts. I didn't know when I started seeping into them that far, but the pain I felt there, knowing those two would never talk to me again… It hurt so much. When we were at the hospital – after my accident it felt as though it were me on the operating table, as though it were me being treated. I didn't understand it, any of it. I know I had to be restrained, but I couldn't remember why. All I remember was a loud beeping in my ears, sounding in time to a deep ba-dump. Interns and nurses and other doctors rushed past us (me and the doctors restraining me), shouting and scrambling about like frightened children.

The door was closed on us and through the tiny window I saw a couple of the doctors thrown back, these strange spikes sticking out of the walls. Then suddenly everything went dark, a high pitched scream echoing in my ears. I was told later that the screech was mine.

Large tears fell from my cheeks at the thought of it. They were my friends, yeah, but I hadn't known them for long. We weren't even close friends, just school classmate friends. They were giving me a ride home after our art class. Derik and John…

Derik died in the car, the steering wheel imbedded in his chest. John died on the operating table, screaming for his life. And I got out generally unharmed, or rather physically unharmed. The hospital let me go after a night of crying and morphine. The drug didn't do shit. I was fully aware of everything, and more importantly, everyone. _The voices; so many voices echoing in the dark._

Sara was the only one I ever told about these voices, and I only told her over the phone. I told her I was hearing things, that these people kept talking to me. She told me I was just imagining things. I thought I was too when they went away for a while. Now they're back, and not very happy with the whole situation.

"I'm fine," I said, answering Sara's unasked question. I let myself fall onto her lap, my tears slowing down. "I'm fine."

As her fingers stroked my brown hair, Logan fidgeted in discomfort. I could feel how out of place he felt and nearly laughed out loud. _Join the club_, I thought sarcastically. _We have cookies._

Time seemed to tick away as the room grew quiet to me. They continued to talk; I could feel the vibration of her chest as they conversed. The mind is funny; when under emotional stress, it will occasionally shut down and block things out for you. I happily floated in the dark, just feeling the soft tickle on my scalp, watching the small flame of the candles dance on their wick.

Unfortunately, as life would have it, good things don't last long. A blinding light ripped through the air behind the couch and a pair of people pulled themselves out of it. Vary tall people, they were too. A beautiful black woman with short cropped white hair and a much older black man with more muscles than a human should have. _They're not human_, I knew instantly. They couldn't be, not with an entrance like that.

A cool wind picked up and quickly died down. I looked to Sara, wondering if she had left a window open, but knowing her that would be a negative. Logan and the old man stepped close to each other and started talking in hushed tones. The only words I caught were 'Storm', 'Bishop', and 'Psy-Lock'? That lead me to believe they wanted to play chess but rain and weather wouldn't permit them. And this 'Lock' thingy… I wasn't sure I even wanted to know. Too bad the time came for them to leave. Good riddance I say, or would have if I wasn't asked to join them.

"Sara. Karin. Would you two please come with me? I'd like you to speak with someone."

"Ah, yeah," I said, pushing myself out of Sara's lap. "About that; I'd love to, but pass."

"It's not an offer kid, you're coming." Mean old Logan growled at me, again. Yeah, he was a badger.

"No." I settled into my seat, determined to keep it. He growled again and came around to the other side and flung me over his shoulder like a sack of potatoes. Damn this guy was strong, and built! I mean really, there was nothing soft about him, and from where I was hanging, his butt looked good too. But this wasn't the time or place for thoughts like that. They weren't even my thoughts! No, my thoughts were, get me the fuck down from here, and start kicking like the childish adult I was. I was only twenty for crying out loud!

It didn't seem to matter how much I wiggled or kicked or cursed his name, he didn't seem interested in putting me down. Then I did something to really piss him off. I… clasped my hand… around his… privet area… Never had my face burned so much, nor my butt and back hurt so badly. He threw me through the portal after my grope and I landed painfully on the floor in a brightly lit room. Again I was kissing the floor because of this guy. I'll have to make a note to stay away from him.

Slowly, I picked myself up off the floor, glad it wasn't the wall that stopped my sudden flight. The fat frog on my tank seemed to smile more smugly as I pulled the darn thing back down as far as it would go and straightened my pj bottoms. "Could have at least let me get dressed first," I muttered after retying my pants. Something moved just out of my peripheral vision and when I looked up I nearly peed my pretty pink pants. Two guys… Staring at me…

I screamed.

I glowed like a bad reindeer joke, wrapped my arms around my chest and screamed.

Only after I ran out of breathe and listened to the echo of said scream had I noticed the bright light that filled the room. The bulbs above us flickered and swung dangerously on their chords. Looking back at the two men, I found one was scarred and burned so badly that I had to wonder who dropped him in a fryer. All those burns on his face made my skin feel tight and I know my staring at him made him uncomfortable. I just knew he wanted me to stop staring, to look away and I did, shame and humiliation flooding my mind.

Shifting my head to the side a little, I found the dark eyes of a familiar figure. How he was familiar, I had no idea, but he had this look about him, this face that glowed, almost, as the others stepped through the portal. When he smiled, he sported a set of fangs were his eye teeth should have been. Then everything was blue. You know, that song from Eiffel 65? The one about the blue house and blue girlfriend? Yeah, that's what popped into my head the instant he smiled.

And there he was. I didn't know how you could miss him. A large, blue, furry ape of a man in black leather. I felt like such an idiot because now that I saw him, furless and strutting in just a pair of jeans, the only thing I can recall asking myself was, "Why blue?"

He came forward, a broad grin on his face. I felt my own face heat up as he walked right past me to embrace the pretty black woman behind me. I swear if you were to lay me down, you could crack an egg on my face and cook it with how hot it felt. I was so embarrassed. Not only was he cute with that boyish grin, but I honestly thought for a moment that he was coming towards me.

I am so stupid.

Sara's arm on my shoulder wiped the image his grin from my mind. Suddenly, as the pretty black woman shifted to glare at me, the hand became an arm as Sara's face became buried in my neck. Logan and the black man walked around us, careful to keep their distance. Did I really look that bad in my pj's?

"Sara, Karin, welcome. My name is Bishop. This is Pyro," The back man introduced the burnt man who had retreated to a darker corner. "Storm and Beast," he indicated the couple near us. "And Phylock." As he said the last, a short Asian girl stepped into the room. Her eyes are what I noticed first, the negative gold on black. The base of my skull itched as I felt her presence fill the room. She gave off the air of being both a child and a very mature adult. Kinda like the opposite of me.

I couldn't help but shift nervously as she stared into my eyes. "This is her?" She asked incredulously, those strange eyes quickly darting to Logan and back to me. "She doesn't look like much."

_What the hell are you talking about? I'm more than you, you little brat._

She glared at me long and hard, as though she knew what I was thinking and didn't like it. I stepped closer to Sara, pressing myself against her. "It's alright, girly, I'm here."

The black woman laughed. It felt like she was laughing at me, though a part of me knew that was wrong. I just couldn't shake the bad feeling I had around her, like I was going to do something stupid. As though someone had been playing with the lights in this place, everything went dark, a bright flash of white light filled the room, and then everything came back to normal. Storm's dark brown eyes turned white and I couldn't stop my question leaving my mouth."What?"

"I said it's alright?" Sara pulled away, her hands still lingering on my shoulders. Those hands turned me around to look her in the eye. "Unless there's something you're not telling me."

"What? Wait! I mean… What are we talking about?" Oh wow, didn't I feel intelligent. At least now that I knew I lost the smart man's interest I didn't feel so bad about being oblivious to the obvious. "I'm sorry, Sara. I think I may still be suffering head trauma."

Her eyes grew wide and she held me out at arm's length to look me over. I wanted to ask what good that would do, but then her face was in mine, searching my eyes. "Your eyes a shaking," she said after a long pause. Now she made me want a nap and a tooth brush. When she let go and moved away she took half the world with her. Or at least it seemed that way as the colors blended and swirled about my eyes.

My arm reached out for Sara's shoulders and I guess I missed it because the next thing I knew the floor was coming up to meet me for another kiss. Apparently we were becoming really close friends, the floor and I. Someone called for help and before I knew what was going on someone had me around my chest, their arms cradling my breasts. The sweet smell of musk and cigar smoke assaulted my senses, making my head explode with pain. My hands went to my cranium and I pressed my thumbs into my temples. I pressed so hard it felt as though I would break through to the other side if I didn't ease up. Whoever was holding me up didn't seem to have any sympathy for my discomfort because they roughly leaned me to one side to get a free arm to sweep under my legs. Now the world started looking like one big lava lamp. That was just great.

Ready to throw up at anytime, I closed my eyes against the mixing and dividing colors. I buried my face in the chest of whoever was holding me and made it worse. The smell seemed to radiate off of the man holding me. Yes, he was a man; my nose was in his vary muscular chest. Seeing how it was almost a requirement to be ripped to join this little club here, it was difficult to tell just whose arms I had fallen into without opening my eyes. Sara's voice followed behind, slowly growing more distant. More voices joined in and I really wished they hadn't. From what I could catch from their chatter was I may have given myself another concussion when I was thrown through the portal.

I wanted to scream well duh, but didn't really have patients to add my own voice to the mix of irritating sounds.

The warm arms were swiftly replaced by freezing sheets. Normally on a warm day like today, the cool sheets would be inviting, but I was starting to feel chills. This was just not my day. A pair of warm hands found my forehead and then my neck. My neck was tender, feeling almost bruised when the rough hands hit lymph nodes. The large rough hands were quickly replaced by a smaller pair of soft ones that lay palm down on my temples. Someone had pulled my hands away as I being prodded. Just as I was going to take my hands back from whoever took them, blackness exploded and all I heard was a simple suggestion to sleep.

What a wonderful thought, wish I came up with it. The commanding thought to sleep crossed my mind again and I couldn't resist this time. My body relaxed and I allowed sleep to take away the pain and fever.


End file.
